Framingham residents raise concerns with General Chemical site

Residents at a public meeting Thursday night voiced concerns and skepticism with General Chemical’s ongoing assessment and cleanup of its contaminated Leland Street property, contending the company has not adequately determined and broadcast the risks.

Residents at a public meeting Thursday night voiced concerns and skepticism with General Chemical’s ongoing assessment and cleanup of its contaminated Leland Street property, contending the company has not adequately determined and broadcast the risks.

Many neighbors said they worried about children playing in a drainage ditch and wetlands behind the property, which was closed last summer. Audience members also said people have been trespassing onto several abandoned homes in the neighborhood owned by General Chemical, and questioned why the properties have not been secured.

Throughout the meeting, neighbors as well as town Board of Health Chairman Mike Hugo accused the company and state Department of Environmental Protection officials of underplaying the potential harm at the site, which borders an elementary school and several homes and is near a condo complex. Hugo also said he is frustrated that MassDEP has neglected to include the Board of Health in its work on the property.

"Is this going to be a waste of time coming here?" asked Robert Viana, a Concord Street resident who used to live in a condominium in the neighborhood. "I hope not. (General Chemical) should take this seriously."

General Chemical, which was represented Thursday night by Stefan Sokol, a licensed site professional contracted by the company, and MassDEP, which is overseeing cleanup, intended for the meeting to update residents on the process and answer questions. They also presented a draft of the Public Involvement Plan for the project, an additional outreach step General Chemical has agreed to in response to a petition neighbors filed last July.

Using comment compiled last September from residents and town officials, the document outlines various ways, from public meetings to mailings and website updates, the company plans to use to keep people up to speed on the cleanup. The document also describes ways in which the public can provide feedback.

After announcing last March its plan to close the site, General Chemical spent last summer removing tanks from the former hazardous waste transfer facility, washing surface areas, and putting up fencing, and submitted cleanup documentation to MassDep in the fall.

"Now we’re at the that back and forth process of sending comments," said Stephen Johnson, deputy regional director for the agency’s Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup. "We expect the final version of that closure document will be complete by the end of April."

Johnson said General Chemical will also be submitting more in-depth assessments by May 31.

"That’s something we’re looking forward to, because it will give us a lot of information, more than we have now," he said.